Combined putty-knife and nail-extractor.



W. A. STEVENS. cor 15mm PUTTY KNIFE AND NAIL EXTBACTORQ APPLICATION FILED IAN. 16. $917.

1,2553%, Paientea Feb. 5,191&

WALTER A. STEVENS, 013 CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

COMBINED PUTTY-KNIFE AND NAIL-EXTBAC'IOR.

Application filed. January 16, 191.7.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER A. STEVENS, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in. Combined Putty-Knives and Nail-Ere tractors, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to combination tools, and has for its object more particularly to provide a combined putty-knife or glaziers tool and tack, brad or nail extractor.

The objects and features of the invention will be best understood from the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, of a combined tool embodying a preferred form of the invention selected for purposes of illustration, it being understood that the invention in its true scope is definitely set forth by the claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a tool embodying one form of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the tool represented in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal central section on line 3+3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross section on line d4E of Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section on line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

In the illustrative embodiment of the invention shown, the blade 2 of the puttyknife or glaziers tool is provided with a shank portion at which may be secured in a handle 6 of wood or any other similar material by rivets 8, 8, or in any other suitable manner.

The metal blade 2 is provided with means for extracting or pulling nails, brads or tacks, said means herein comprising an opening, Fig. 1, extending longitudinally of the blade and having a portion 10 large enough to give free passage to the head of a nail or tack, and a narrower, more or less tapered portion 1a which extends preferably in the direction of the handle, as shown in Fig. 1. The edges of the portion 10 of the opening are preferably beveled, as shown at 12, Figs. 1, 3 and 4. That portion of the blade in which the narrower opening Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 5, tilts Serial No. 142,732.

14 is provided will preferably be raised above the surface of said blade 2, so that the opposed edges of said narrower opening 14; w ll extend gradually upward from the opening 10 to act as cams, as will be described. The edges of said narrower openng 1% are preferably beveled where they oin the edges of the Opening 10, so as to form a substantial continuation of the latter, and up to a point adjacent the highest part of the raised portion of the blade throughout which the narrower slot extends.

The blade 2 will preferably be ofiset substantially as shown at 18 in Figs. 2 and 3, so as to bring the fiat face of the blade 2 nearer the plane of the corresponding face of the handle and preferably substantially in the same plane as the latter.

To extract a tack, nail or other fastening having a head, with the aid of my puttykmfe or glaziers tool, the blade 2 is placed as flat as possible upon the part from which the nail is to be extracted, with the beveled edge of the opening 10 turned upwardly and the head of the nail to be extracted within said opening 10. The tool is then moved forwardly, that is to say, in the direction of its front edge 20, Fig. 1, as indicated by the arrow in said figure, whereupon the beveled edges of the openings 10 and 14 will be introduced beneath the head of the nail, and the edges of said opening 141-, by their upward inclination and conse quent cam action, will quickly and readily extract the nail.

It will be noted that while the knife may be tipped about its forward edge 20 to assist in. extracting the nail, this is rarely if ever necessary, the upwardly inclined edges of the opening 14, by their cam action on the head of the nail, produced by the forward movement of the knife, being sufficient to extract the nail or tack without any tipping of the knife. This is a great advantage when extracting nails from relatively soft. or finished surfaces, as thereby all mar-ring of said surface, as is often caused by the edge of the knife when the latter is tipped, is avoided.

To extract a brad or other headless nail or fastening, the proi ecting part of the brad or nail is introduced between the edges of the narrower opening 14, that side of the blade from which the edges of said slot are raised being turned downwardly, so that the projecting part of the brad or nail is embraced between said raised or cam edges of the slot 1-1. The knife is then tilted transversely, whereupon the edges of the narrow slot 1% clamp the brad upon opposite sides, with an action which may be compared to that of a Stillson wrench, so that by further tipping said blade transversely,

or by raising it while maintaining it sufficiently inclined toward one side or the other to preserve the clamping action on the nail, the latterwill be readily extracted.

As the edges of the slot 14 project beyond the face of the knife, it will be seen that headles brads or nails that have been driven well home are readily seized and extracted with my tool.

The ofiset arrangement '18 greatly facilitates the extractionof nails from large surfaces, as will be readily understood, in that it enables the under surface of the knife to be brought closer to the surface from which the nail isto be extracted.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art, from the above description, that my improved tool possesses many advantages over those of a similar nature heretofore used, and it is to be understood that while the invention is herein described as embodied in the details illustrated, it is not to be considered as circumscribed by or limited to said details or any-of them, but that said details=may-be modified in accordance with the true scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Claims:

1. As a new'artic'le of manufacture, a nail or brad extracting implement, comprising a flat blade provided with an extruded portion forming an indentation upon one face of said blade and upon the other side a projection presenting a surface inclined to the plane of the blade lengthwise the latter, the face of the blade that is presented to the surface containing the nail being fiat. and a handle offset away from said flat face, thereby permitting the presentation of said flat face fiatwise to the said sur- 7 its wide end at the base of said surface, so

that by placing the face of the'blade containing the indentation flat upon a surface containing a nail with the head of the latter in the wider portion of said tapered slot and sliding said blade longitudinally to cause the head of thenail to enter the narrower portion of said slot, the upwardly inclined edgesof'the latter will act on said head to-extract the-nailfrom said surface.

'2. As anew article of manufacture, anail or brad extracting implement, comprising a flat'blade provided withan extruded portion forming-an indentation upon one side of said blade and upon the other face a projection presenting a surface inclined to the plane of the blade lengthwise the latter and containing a tapered slot having its wider .end at the base of said surface,

sothat-by'inserting the head of a brad in' the narrower portion of said slot and tilting the blade transversely upon'the surface con taining said brad, the latter will be extracted,'while by placing the face of the blade containing the indentation fiat-upon a surface containing a nail with the head of the latter in the widerportion of said tapered slot and sliding said blade longitudinally "to cause the head of the nail to enter the narrower portion of said slot,the upwardly inclined edges of the latter will act on 'said head to extract the nail from said surface, the face of the blade that is presented "to the surface containing the nail being fiat and a handle offset away from said fiat face, thereby permitting the presentation of said fiat face fiatwise tothe said surface containing the nail throughout the length of said blade.

ln testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

WALTER A. sTEvENs;

Copies of this patent may be obtained'for five cents each, by'addressing'the Commissioner of-"Patents;

Washington, .D; C.

v 1 Correction in Letters Patent No. 1,255,660.

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,255,660, granted February 5, 1918, upon the application of Walter A. Stevens, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, for an improvement in Combined Putty-Knives and Nail-Extractors, an error appears in the printed specification requiring correction as follows: Page 2, lines 41 and 65, claims 1 and 2, for the word side read face; and that the said Letters Patent should be read with this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.

\ v Signed and sealed this 16th day of April, A. D., 1918.

[SEAL] F. W. H. CLAY,

Acting Commissioner of Patents.

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